Tampa Bay resident Antonio Tarver, who knows a thing or two about pulling off upsets, thinks Miguel Cotto has a shot at beating Floyd Mayweather on Saturday in a pay-per-view fight. But it’s going to take some work.

“Cotto’s gonna have to be perfect,” said Tarver, who upset 5 to 1 odds in his most recent bout, knocking out Danny Green in the ninth round last July. “Cotto’s gonna have to be physical, have his defense intact, and he’s gonna have to match Floyd. When Floyd opens up, he’s gonna have to punch with him. That’s how you negate speed, and that’s a big risk, but his reward is so gigantic that’s he’s gonna have to be willing to lay it all on the line and if has to go out on his shield, go out trying to get that victory.”

Tarver shocked the world when he knocked out Roy Jones Jr., a fighter many thought was unbeatable.

Mayweather, who is unbeaten, has that same aura of invincibility.

Still, Tarver thinks it can be a good fight.

“I think that Mayweather’s coming in with all the natural God-given ability and talent, and Cotto comes in with the physical game,” Tarver said. “But we’ve seen Cotto beat, and beaten bad on two occasions. He was outclassed against (Manny) Pacquiao, and he took a beating against (Antonio) Margarito. We haven’t seen that with Floyd Mayweather yet. I think he (Mayweather) is at the top of the game right now, and he’s gonna have more options to do the things that he does in the ring.”

About This Blog

Rick Brown has been with The Ledger since 1991. A native of Washington, D.C., Rick is a graduate of Florida A&M University. He has covered high schools, Arena Football, Spring Training Baseball, the Tampa Bay Lightning, boxing and colleges. He is currently covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.